Object relations and attachment: A comparison of Rorschach responses and adult attachment classifications.
Item
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Title
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Object relations and attachment: A comparison of Rorschach responses and adult attachment classifications.
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Identifier
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AAI9732967
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identifier
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9732967
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Creator
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Rothstein, Daniel N.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Steven B. Tuber
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Date
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1997
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical | Psychology, Developmental
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Abstract
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This study investigated the association between the constructs of mental representation of interpersonal relationships posited by object relations theory and attachment theory, in an effort to contribute to the dialogue between psychoanalytic and attachment researchers.;A nonclinical sample of 39 middle-class primiparous women were administered the Rorschach Inkblot Test and the Adult Attachment Interview (Main & Goldwyn, 1985) in their third trimester of pregnancy. Rorschach tests were scored with two object relations measures: Urist's (1977) Mutuality of Autonomy Scale, and Blatt et al.'s (1976) Developmental Analysis of the Concept of the Object Scale. It was hypothesized that securely attached subjects would have more structurally complex and more autonomous object representations on the Rorschach when compared to insecurely attached subjects. With attachment classifications as the independent variables, a series of one-way ANOVAs were performed: none of the planned tests for the hypotheses found significant differences in quality or developmental level of object representations among subjects grouped by security of attachment.;A post hoc independent t-test of subjects grouped by minimizing and maximizing affective styles (Cassidy, 1994), rather than attachment category, indicated that affective minimizers had a greater number of Urist scale malevolent scores than affective maximizers. This post hoc finding is discussed as one indication of overlap, in the realm of affect regulation, between each theories' construct of object representations.;The nonsignificant results for the planned hypotheses are discussed in terms of the degree of sensitivity of the Rorschach scales for use in a nonclinical population, as well as the effects of pregnancy on subjects' Rorschach responses. The significance of different modes of representation of thought is also addressed. Image and linguistic modes of representation, which were highlighted by the Rorschach and the Adult Attachment Interview, respectively, are compared. The question is raised whether differences in developmental level of object representations among attachment categories in a normal adult population are to be found in narrative representations, as opposed to imaged-based representations.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
